#REVIEW Tully
They say it takes a village to raise a child, or maybe you just need one amazing nanny.
Coming to theaters this weekend from director Jason Reitman is Tully, a film showcasing the uncomfortable and complicated journey that is motherhood. Reitman is reunited with screenwriter Diablo Cody, who wrote the scripts for two of his other films, Juno and Young Adult.
The film stars Charlize Theron as Marlo, a mother of two with another one on the way. She lives in the suburbs with her husband Drew (Ron Livingston) and more and more, each day is starting to blend together for her. She wakes up, gets her kids ready for school, drives them to school while they scream and fight, makes dinner for her husband, and passes out from exhaustion.
After dining with her wealthy brother and his wife (Mark Duplass and Elaine Tan), Marlo is convinced by her brother to obtain a “night nanny”, a nanny who will show up each night to take care of their newborn child so Marlo is able to get some well deserved shut eye.
So once the new baby arrives, so does Tully the enigmatic nanny who plans to help make Marlo’s life a bit easier. She cleans the house, bakes cupcakes and eventually starts to become friends with Marlo, discussing issues they face in their lives together.
What makes this film so realistic is not just it’s portrayal of what it is like to be a parent, but also how much your life changes when it happens. A large portion of the movie focuses on Marlo’s feelings over how she’s changed greatly as a person since she’s had kids, as she’s no longer the cool city girl but now the suburban mom. Theron delivers a wonderful performance of a woman at a crossroad in her life, while Davis is super charming as the nanny who sees beauty in everything.
The final part of the film is quite jarring that it’s almost very hard to watch, but in the end it’s a heartfelt film about the struggle of not only parenthood but also the inevitability of growing older.
Universal Pictures releases Tully on Friday, May 4, 2018
[Review by Jennifer King]